By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 12:51 am:

Hello folks,

I'm new to these parts and allow me to introduce myself... My name is Cliff aka Musicchef and I'm the publicist of the Estate of William "PoPsie" Randolph. We are currently digitizing thousands of photos from the music/entertainment world from the turn of the century up to the mid 70's that have been sitting in a bank vault for the last 25 years, and I need some ideas on how to promote these images to the public. I have hundreds of Motown based images from portraits to live shots and I would love to share them and pay some bills at the same time. Any ideas ?? I've been lurking here for the past week or so and you folx are quite a sharp lot !

By Eli (152.163.252.68) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 08:10 am:

Wow!!!!
I remember seeing the name "Popsie" on the bottom of many original Motown photos.
Welcome to our forum Musicchef and I am sure that there are some here who could give you guidance.

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 09:16 am:

Hi Musicchef;
Welcome to the Forum!
Good question, I also have photos I took from the 1960's. Some of James Brown, one of his entourage told me is worth a gold mine, now I don't know about that nor am I trying to sell or make money from them but I would like to at least know their value, if any?
Besides James I have personal shots of Jackie Wilson, Deon Jackson, The Jive Five, The Manhattans, Jimmy Scott, etc.. Also some of The O'Jays, Little Anthony & Imperials, Gladys Knight & Pips, The Whispers, Marvin Junior (The Dells), Timothy Wilson, Joe Bataan, Tony Drake(Hi Tony!),etc.. taken in the 80's & 90's.
I would also like to hear from the experts.(?)
Soul Sister

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.70) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 09:21 am:

Soulsister
have you heard Timothy Wilsons
"Love is like an itching in my heart/I wanna know right now"
a record that was so big around 1972 on the uk scene.
I still have my Blue Rock white Demo(no.4087)
and it has one of the snakiest sax breaks ever in it.
best
mel(snake in the grass)

By acooolcat (61.58.181.28) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 09:30 am:

Musichef
Like anything else - photos are only worth what someone is prepared to pay, and I wouldn't want to pay much more than fifteen dollars for a photo. I suggest you put them on ebay with a reserve and see what happens.
Graham

By Jim G (205.188.209.109) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 09:42 am:

Hi Chef,

I thought Frank Driggs owned rights to at least some of those images?

As far as publicizing what you've got, I can offer suggestions for the jazz photos.
I belong to a jazz research list and there are often requests for photos from authors and researchers.
If you have a list of the jazz photos I suggest sending it to the Institute for Jazz Studies at Rutgers, a common Port-of-call for information.
If you contact me off-list (JamesJazz@aol.com) I'd be happy to give you contact details.
You should start selling some on ebay too.
I doubt if you'd make much money from jazz projects.
Motown, however, could be a goldmine.
I'm sure the Motown research people on this Forum can guide you.

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 09:58 am:

Melandthensome;
I do have "I Wanna Know Right Now" on either CD or tape or both. But do not have the other side of that 45.
S.S.

P.S. RE: Big Maybelle song you e-mailed... I've been having a problem with my speakers. Probably won't get it fixed till after Japan.
S.S.

By MEL&THEN SOME9 (217.14.178.90) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 10:00 am:

Okey Dokey
Soulsister
catch ya later
watch out for the alligators flipper
when reefing it.
marine boy mel.

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 12:30 pm:

OK Melmarineboy!
Iam going barrier reefing now while all's quiet on the western front, its a beautiful day for it here today!
SoultakingthediveSister, later.

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 05:27 pm:

Wow !!! I should have realized that I would get a LOT of positive response from here. To answer a few questions...

1. Frank Driggs only has part of the archive from the "other" son of "PoPsie's". I'm dealing with the LEGAL heir of the estate, Mike Randolph, the eldest son. We have the copyrights and the "ok" from the courts. That's why Mr. Driggs has NOT published any of the photos for sale to the general public. (I would LOVE to contact Frank and get his take on "PoPsie" just for my interest level).

2. I have the original negatives and I want to try to get them all in one place for research and discussion by scholars. You should see his "black book" and all of the people that he knew. As a long time music buff, I feel it's my duty to NOT sell off anymore of the collection, hence that's why I'm trying to establish a revenue stream to keep it going.

3. I will make available ANY photos to anyone who helps me out with articles/stories about the shoots we have. This is the time for all of you "budding journalists" to make yourselves heard. Send me an e-mail with your favorite groups/singers and let's see what we come up with.

4. Being that I grew up in Pottstown, PA, I just wanted to personally thank Bobby Eli for a LOT of great music memories of the great "Philly" sound that was a soundtrack of growing up (I'm 39 and I had 3 older brothers... talk about OJT)

5. I would like to see Soul Sister's stash of pix personally... ever think about putting up a page ?

I'll keep an eye out for answers

Da Chef

By Vickie (198.81.26.170) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 06:27 pm:

You should definatley do some sort of book, coffee table book, historical book..

You have something people are wanting to see....

By Nola (67.249.46.3) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 08:21 pm:

Musicchef:

Do you have any New Orleans acts? The Tulane Jazz Archive is weak on R&B acts. They might be interested.

By Sue (205.188.209.109) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 08:33 pm:

Musicchef,
I emailed you about the Michael Ochs Archive -- we used to use a lot of his stuff when I was at Creem -- he started out just using his vast collection of old promo photos.

Anyway it was for a long time the main historic rock/pop music photo archive out there.

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 10:29 pm:

Hi Musicchef;
I agree with Vickie, you might think about a coffee table edition, people love great photo books especially of the artists they grew up listening to.
Yes, I thought about posting the photos, they weren't taken with professional equipment or in any professional way but many are quite good I feel. I have quite a bit from 1965 to 1971, then 1984 to today, when I think about the task to do that I get overwhemed and then I don't want to overdose the forum with my photos. I'll have to figure out how its going to work. Vonnie & Bobby Eli are coming out to visit Jimmy & me the last week in August when we get back off the road, so we'll start putting some up on the screen then. I would e-mail to David but don't want to overwhelm him with such a big task either.
Do you have other artists in your collection besides the Motown or Detroit artists ?
Soul Sister

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 11:02 pm:

We are currently looking for a publisher for a book and would love to hear any good offers. As for any New Orleans based people, that might be a problem due to PoPsie being NYC based. Ochs tried to buy out the collection back in the early 80's but made a EMBARASSINGLY small offer and offended the estate. We have shots from the turn of the century jazz (Whiteman, Jelly Roll Morton, etc) up to the mid 70's (a LOT of afros). I'm currently talking to the R n R hall, House of Blues, etc and even the Hendrix estate (we have a GREAT shoot with Jimi backing Wilson Pickett in King Curtis' band). It's sad how PoPsie has dropped from the radar because at one time, he was Broadway's Greatest Photographer. For a list of who and what we got, check out the site on your freetime from here LOL www.popsiephotos.com

Da Chef

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 11:13 pm:

Musicchef;
I remember PoPsie's name, but I also remember alot of promo shots done by James J. Kreigsman.
Are you familiar with his work? Also out of N.Y.C.
S.S.

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 11:59 pm:

Yep on Kriegsman. I was just chatting with Dee Dee from the Original Crystals and we were discussing the "Big Four" of entertainment photography "back in the day".... "PoPsie", Kriegsman, Bernard of Hollywood and Maurice Seymour. "PoPsie's" son used to give Seymour rides around NYC often... I'm glad that I have a link to the "PoPsie" archive and that I've seen so many classic images in the last few months that we've been digitizing everything. Boy, this has been a blast talking about this with some REAL music fans... Most of my friends think that this is quite boring and would rather discuss "American Idol"...

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 12:17 am:

Musicchef;
I have some Maurice & Kriegsman photos, not sure about PoPsie but maybe, I have to dig into my trunk and see but that will have to wait till after this tour. I miss strolling around Broadway by 1619-the Brill Building.
Would like someday to see your Jackie Wilson shots. On the Lionel Hampton ones are their any with Little Jimmy Scott in them? I would like to know, thank you in advance of that info.
Back down memory lane...
S.S.

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 12:58 am:

I got TONS of Jackie... I guess him and "Popsie" did a lot of business. Here's one of him recording in 1960. I also have great shots of all of the Brill Building faithful during their early 60's heyday. "PoPsie's" studio was right next door to the Brill Building, so I guess he just popped on over and said "Howdy"... As for the Hampton shots, I'll have to have Mike look into the archives for me and let ya know... So, SS, what part of the industry are you in and how did you get so into the "photo thang" ?

Inquiring Minds wanna know...

Da Chef

By Vickie (198.81.26.170) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 01:01 am:

Bank House Dave,
Help our new friend Chef!!

He's got cool stuff for a book


Vickie

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 01:09 am:

*note to self...* Send Vickie one dozen roses and my debt of gratitude

Da Chef

Well, since i can't get the roses as of yet, I'll just have to post another Supremes Pic...

By Vickie (198.81.26.170) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 03:35 am:

Ah, There's my girls

thanks Chef!!!


Vickie

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 08:51 am:

Musicchef;
I started out for the love of R&B/Soul music.
I won't go into it all here as its been posted before in a previous threat and I don't want to bore anybody with repeating the details so I'll sum it up in a tight package: When I was a teenager I ran away from home with The Jive Five, hit the chitlin'curcit, met alot of people, dated a few, was the common-law wife of the late George "Smitty" Smith the original lead singer of The Manhattans, lived with him in his mother's house till he passed away from a cerebral hemmorage on Dec. 16, 1970. Stayed on a couple years after that. Met alot of people, hung out at James Brown's house became friends with his son Teddy & real life godfather Papa Dud, trained dogs with Ronnie Goodson ( of Ronnie & The High Lites) he was a neighbor of Smitty & Me, and was friends(period) with Jackie Wilson, knew some others in the business on both sides of it, some nice, some not so nice, today I'm with Jimmy Scott both in the capacity as wife & manager/agent.
The photos I took were mainly of people I knew or were friends. I could have took tons more of just about everyone back then when there were many acts on each show but was 1.) too shy to ask & 2.) felt like these people I knew were friends and the ones I didn't know well were passing aquaintances so I didn't want to come off like some starstruck fan, dumb huh! I had the opportunity to take everyone from Otis on down but never bothered, something I regret today but I was never one to be pushy.
So Musicchef thats my true story in a nutshell.
Thanks for posting the Jackie Wilson photo, a good one, love the studio setting, I have some of Jimmy like that from the 1950's. Those kind of shots are the coolest!!!
Sincerely,
Soul Sister ( a name given to me by The Jive Five in 1966).

By Kegtapper (67.74.232.164) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:23 am:

MusicChef - Contact me off list, kegtapperATbrew-meister.com (replace AT with @). Perhaps something can be worked out. Specifically the Motown photos. Use licensing etc.,,

Evan Mayo

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.68) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:40 am:

Where have you been
Kegtapper?
good to see ya back
mel.
ps
what became of that record collection you were going to see?
just being neighbourley.

By Leoscasino (66.72.194.82) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 09:21 pm:

Soul Sister, I hope before you and Jimmy leave our great city, there will be some going away party or music jam. If not, would love to take you both out to a going away dinner. He will be
so missed.

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:17 pm:

Thanks for the feedback SS and the history. That incarnation of the Manhattans was my fave by far ! "I call it love" and "I'm the one love forgot" are CONSTANTLY on my MP3 player. Just read about the reissue of the lp on Rhino of Jimmy's and was going to pick it up (or call in a favor from one of my WB hookups... Keg, I'll be in touch soon via email if one of my partners doesn't contact you first. If any of y'all ever make it to Vegas, look me up !

Da Chef

By SisDetroit (68.42.209.170) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:22 pm:

You should publish a 60's photo book. I'd rather look at photos than to read. Pictures can tell the story.

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:31 pm:

Leoscasino;
Lets not jump the gun yet, we haven't even started looking for a house in LA yet, but we'll be checking it out in August. So, if & when the time comes we'll hit the flats for seafood or the heights for soul food, unless our friends at the Rock Hall want to plan something(he-he) that would be cool, cause I'll miss those guys if we do move.
Thanks for your kind thoughts, I'll pass them onto Jimmy.
Sincerley.
Soul Sister

By STUBASS (205.188.209.109) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:33 pm:

HEY LEO!!!...YOU GUYS GOT THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME...SO IT'S ONLY FAIR THAT WE GET SOUL SISTER AND JIMMY!!!...STU(WE LOVE LA)BASS

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:48 pm:

Hi Chef;
Those two of Smitty's are my favorites too along with Can I and When We Are Made As One. Smitty's favorite and heartwrenching favorite of mine was Alone On New Years Eve. I love the With These Hands Album too, Smitty's last, there is something real spiritual about it for me, I guess cause it was our time.
RE: Jimmy's LP, you must be referring to "Falling In Love Is Wonderful" from Ray Charles' label, the original was a big collector'
s item and when that CD is sold out it too will be a collector's item just like the original 33!! I understand it's already becoming hard to find. On Rhino if there is any left with original jacket it's a miracle because that issue is a limited edition. Warner Jazz UK sold out there edition and just restocked a second time with their similiar but not original jacket but everything else is exactly the same with photo of original jacket on the inside. Better jump on it before it's too late! (smile)
S.S.

By SoulAngelSister (65.43.167.42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:51 pm:

Gee...thanks STUAngelDaddyBASS!

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:31 pm:

GAH !!! Better get to it ! Do you have it for sale thru a website or an online service ? Would love to get it direct and give ya'll more of a "cut" than the "Man". As for the book idea, I need to find a publisher to do it right. we are currently talking to an outfit out of Seattle who specializes in Jazz books (most of our archive is Jazz, surprisingly enough) and I may be hooking up with the publisher in NJ in early Aug (haven't been back east in 21 years... Been TOO long)! But I'm going to be posting a lot more pix on the site www.popsiephotos.com along with some bio bits on the performers... I NEED SOME OF YA'LL's INPUT ! I've been VERY impressed with the peeps on here, you folks make me sound like a newbie mofo... It's been a LONG time since that has happened. SS, Do you remember a group called the Sinceres from the Allentown area ? My mother just dropped a bombshell on me and told me that my dad used to be in that group and she sent me a picture. For some reason, my pic attachment isn't working. If you know any old doo wop fans, I would like to know a little about him and the group.

Thanks

Da Chef

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:41 pm:

Da Chef;
Post your e-mail & we'll talk. Too tired to write anymore tonight so I'll catch you tomorrow.
S.S.

P.S.- That's hip news about your father!

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.22) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:02 am:

your barrier reefing to much Soulsister
take it easy baby
as the Adventurer's sang.
mel in marinesville

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 08:56 am:

Mel my friend got to get all the barrier reefing in I can before Japan wanna keep having that summer fresh glow!! (ha-ha-ha-).
SoulstillswimmingSister

By John Lester (217.40.205.141) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 09:15 am:

wow..these pictures are amazing!

By stephanie (64.63.221.194) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 01:25 pm:

OOhhhh I love those pictures it shows our greats at work and I HOPE you have more pics of the Supremes.
Stephanie PS Time for the Brits to starts sniffing out more stuff and info I see a good coffee table book in the works here..
Stephanie

By Leoscasino (66.72.197.140) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 09:59 pm:

Soul Sister, Absolutely great idea! Rock n Roll
Hall of Fame it will be. Email will be sent ASAP.

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 02:45 am:

Soul Sister... My email is Musicchef@myway.com

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 09:06 am:

Okay I'll e-mail you this afternoon must run out & do some errands before we leave, Jimmy is standing here rushing me(smile).
S.S.

By Wonder B (80.15.154.64) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 09:12 am:

Musicchef this is great news... I don't know what you will do with this in the future but I can connect you with record company executive over here in France who was head of Motown France and other great labels. He's been into the music biz since the mid 60's and he's like my mentor.
He's got to be one of the biggest record collectors on top of this and he has also thousands of promo pictures from the 20's on... He owns three record labels at the moment and is constantly looking to buy or exchange pictures for the CD booklets. He could either buy prints from you, help you on finding out who's who on the pictures with no names, and maybe other things as well... unfortunately he hates computer technology but if you want I can have him either fax or phone you...
I am a serious pictures collector too (I have around 7000 promo pics and some more candid shots- I also did some concert photos for a while) but you will have to decide first what you are going to do with this treasure!

Wonder B

By Jonel (137.113.28.183) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 10:02 am:

Musicchef, you might consider building a web site...sort of a "coffee-table e-book", a photo gallery of copyrighted images. There is a site that helps you do it yourself called SiteWelder specifically for photographers that showcase their work for sale on the web. You can scan a few select images, watermark them and have them formatted so that visitors can enjoy them, and view them but cannot use them without providing royalties and your written permission for limited rights. The same site advertises for Tango Interactive which helps provide custom sites for photographers like http://www.mattmendelsohn.com/ I don't know if this medium would work for you. It sounds like what you want to do is catalog your images, preserve them and make them available to researchers for a fee. Sounds like a museum exhibit to me. With that it mind, you might want to check out musarium.com They have several online photography exhibits...for example,one on the Vietnam War http://www.musarium.com/stories/vietnaminc/index.html Hope you can use some of this info.

By Musicchef (68.104.25.189) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 01:18 pm:

OMG... You guys are such a wealth of information. I'll be doing all of the above as soon as time permits.

Jonel: Looking into those options and contacting my business partners.

Wonder B: PLEASE contact me via email with all of the details to get in touch with you. I would love to work with anyone who needs images and find out who is in some of these obscure pictures.

Da Chef

By Leoscasino (66.72.203.138) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 06:50 pm:

Stubass, it has been wonderful having Jimmy here.
Unfortunately, the world has found Jimmy again and he's been so busy with other projects. When you are a fan, you can never get enough. We wish him and SS only the best.

By Soul Sister (65.43.167.42) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 07:16 pm:

Leoscasino;
That was SO sweet, thanks for your kindness, bless your heart. I will pass on your message to Jimmy.
Sincerely,
S.S.